A couple questions about my Red-foot.

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Nido

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First off, this is Lilly. She's about 4 or 5 years old (judging by her size and the fact that I've had her 2 years. I don't have an exact DOB).

lilly1.jpg


I have a total of 3 questions:

1. I used cypress mulch for awhile but eventually had to switch over to the aspen shavings my guinea pig uses. I had a horrible time with mites. Even fresh store bought bags of cypress had mites in them when I would first open them. Within a week they would be crawling everywhere. I used 'Mite Off' spray frequently and it never did any good. I'd really like to go back to cypress mulch but even as I type this I have two bags of it on a shelf that I can clearly see the mites in when I look through the plastic. How can I go about removing and prevent mites in the future?

2. Lilly is a little hog and eats every type of fruit and vegetable imaginable that I feed her. Unfortunately though, she passes up any and all of her favorite fruits in favor of dog poo. I can put her in the yard and she'll sit still for a few minutes sniffing and then start walking in a straight line and get to a pile in the yard as far as 40 or 50 feet away. Then she snorts at me when I carry her away from it. I read that this can be a lacking diet indication in some animals. I was curious if that's the case for Red-foots. She usually eats a salad every morning that consists of 1 or 2 hearty greens like collard and dandelion, some diced veggies like zucchini and a sliver of fruit. Then once every week or two she gets either tortoise chow or ground dogfood.

3. Due to her size I recently moved her out of a tank and into a box I built from some shelf kits at Lowe's (it's pretty spacious and was very cheap). I was just wondering if it's safe to use a heat pad on cheap wood. It's usually around 70 degrees in my room here so she needs it but I'm worried about the safety issues.

Thanks in advance!
 

Yvonne G

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I'm not an expert on redfoots, but my first thought when I saw your tort's picture was that it has been kept too dry. Reason I said that is because the new growth seems to be sunken instead of even with the carapace. I would take the cypress mulch back to where you bought it and see if you can trade it for a clean bag. I've never tried it on my tortoises' substrate, but I use Orange Guard around the outside of my tortoise pens. It says on the bottle that its safe around kids and pets. Just for the heck of it, put some of your infested cypress mulch on a cookie baking sheet and spread it out then set it in the sun. Stir it up every so often. See if that doesn't make the mites go away. As for eating dog poo, maybe you aren't feeding her enough animal protein. Terry Kilgore recommends Purina Pro Plan dry cat food (soaked). Some people feed worms, cooked chicken, etc. I don't think you need to worry about a heat pad. Instead, buy either a black light bulb and a clamp light fixture, or a ceramic heat emitter and a clamp light fixture. But if you buy the CHE, be sure your light fixture has a ceramic base, not bakelite.

Yvonne
 

chadk

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I have snakes and had to deal with snake mites. There is a product called Provent A Mite (PAM) that you can order online.

All I do is pretreat my substrate (spray in the bag, skake up, leave open for air and to allow it to dry. In my snake tubs, I lay down a base of pre-treated paper towels (spray towels, allow to dry). Then lay the pre-treated aspen or cypress on that. As long as the PAM has dried, it is safe for your pet. Just be careful using any of this kind of stuff around feeder insects like crickets and such if you have them...
 

Yvonne G

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chadk said:
I have snakes and had to deal with snake mites. There is a product called Provent A Mite (PAM) that you can order online.

All I do is pretreat my substrate (spray in the bag, skake up, leave open for air and to allow it to dry. In my snake tubs, I lay down a base of pre-treated paper towels (spray towels, allow to dry). Then lay the pre-treated aspen or cypress on that. As long as the PAM has dried, it is safe for your pet. Just be careful using any of this kind of stuff around feeder insects like crickets and such if you have them...

But this is for a redfoot who needs a moist substrate. After the product has dried, and you moisten the substrate, doesn't it re-moisten the PAM?

Yvonne
 

Itort

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I don't use cypress with my RFs (use a mixture of hardwood mulch, humis, and sphagrum moss) but use cypress with my blue tongue skinks and never had a mite problem (they would show up quite clearly). I wonder about your cypress source (I get mine from a nursery). As far as the feces eating, mine won't pass it up either. I believe they are programed to eat it to receive digestive bacteria but I don't think they enconter a lot of dog or cat scat in the wild, so try to prevent the eating. I'd forget the heat pad and with the CHE in a secure fixture (brooder fixture) that can gotten at Lowes.
 

Nido

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emysemys said:
I'm not an expert on redfoots, but my first thought when I saw your tort's picture was that it has been kept too dry. Reason I said that is because the new growth seems to be sunken instead of even with the carapace. I would take the cypress mulch back to where you bought it and see if you can trade it for a clean bag. I've never tried it on my tortoises' substrate, but I use Orange Guard around the outside of my tortoise pens. It says on the bottle that its safe around kids and pets. Just for the heck of it, put some of your infested cypress mulch on a cookie baking sheet and spread it out then set it in the sun. Stir it up every so often. See if that doesn't make the mites go away. As for eating dog poo, maybe you aren't feeding her enough animal protein. Terry Kilgore recommends Purina Pro Plan dry cat food (soaked). Some people feed worms, cooked chicken, etc. I don't think you need to worry about a heat pad. Instead, buy either a black light bulb and a clamp light fixture, or a ceramic heat emitter and a clamp light fixture. But if you buy the CHE, be sure your light fixture has a ceramic base, not bakelite.

Yvonne

Yeah, I was concerned about that but the last time I went to the vet he said she doesn't have any problems other than just being slightly drier than normal. Her house gets sprayed between 4 and 8 times a day and I soak her once or twice a week (she refuses to soak on her own). She gets a drink after eating once every couple of days and that's it. Her watery eyes also show the dryness, but I keep her area humid, soak her and supply her with fresh water. There's not really anything else I can do.

I tried trading in the mulch (I get it at Petco) and every bag they had there had traces of mites. I'll try orange guard though. I was told that protein more than once a week can cause pyramiding and isn't good. I'll try adding some more stuff sparingly. She gets hard boiled egg whites, too, I forgot to mention that. If heat becomes a problem I'll get a CHE, but assuming I have to keep the pad, would it be safe on the wood? It's just that she used to always dig herself in on top of where the pad was and always had a nest set up there so I'd like to keep it for her. I just don't have any experience with using heat pads on wood and don't know how safe it is.
 

Meg90

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you can bake the cypress is the oven on a baking sheet at 250 for like, 30 minutes. The heat will kill all the mites. Then you won't have to use chemicals.
Its a trick my friend at petco taught me....do that for anything you add to their cage from outside as well, like branches or wood
 

Madkins007

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1. Mites and Cypress- Cypress is not my favorite substrate- it really does not help with humidity too much. In my larger space, I like a mixture of long-fibered sphagnum moss, Bed-a-Beast or similar, some sand, and whatever bark nugget/wood chip stuff I can find that is 'clean' and low-odor.

It would also be helpful to know what kind of mites they are so you can determine if something like pyrethrin (spelling?) or other natural agents would help.

2. Poo eating is common, and seems nasty to us but is natural to them. I try to keep my guys away from carnivore poop on general principles since carno- and herbi-poops are so different. I don't think that offering them meat changes this at all- my guys have passed up choice chicken and stuff for a chance at dog doo.

3. I would be VERY CAREFUL about using any heating element on wood. You can try a piece of metal between the two to help spread the heat around more, but I would prefer something like greenhouse warming cables in the soil with a properly rated thermostat.
 

Candy

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Dale thinks that Lilly is extremely cute! Anyway we use the moss for Dale. It works so much better at keeping the humidity level right than the mulch does. He also loves to hide in it. I used to use a heating pad until someone on this site told me how dangerous they can become (overheating and all) and then I went to check Dales heating pad and it was VERY HOT in certain places and cooler in others. I turned it off immediately it scared me so bad thinking that it could have burned him. Dale always sleeps under his heat emitter that I got for him he loves it.
 

blackcat38

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Do they might look like ting white bugs? That comes out more after spraying and around food or poo that’s in there? Or if you lift out a piece of wood or slate they're under it where it's warm and moist?

I use cypress, orchid bark on top of coir and moss in the hide. I notice I have those bugs, I looked on the net and other forums and found out they were bark mites or sprigtails? And the eggs are on the bark then hatch in the warm and moist conditions. Apparently they are not harmful; they eat the waste food and poo in the enclosure. I cleaned the whole enclosure out and sterilised the base with boiling water, soaked slate, wood, bowls, hides in boiling water and soaked the new cypress and orchid bark in boiling water before putting it in. I haven't seen any bugs since :)
 

Nido

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Thanks for all the responses, it looks like a heat emitter is the way to go. I'll also be getting some moss since it seems like every poster recommends it.

And yeah, there are tiny white eggs that turn into tiny white bugs that live in the dark areas of the enclosure and under all the bark. The vet also told me they weren't harmful, but there are times where I'd pick up Lilly and there'd be mites crawling on her. No matter how safe they are that's gross and seems very inconsiderate on my part.

Thanks once again, everyone really helped out!
 

Neohippy

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Not sure how much help it is since I can't remember the name, but there is a mite out there... Now I know this sounds odd at first. But, there is a mite out there you can purchase, you put a few in your terrarium, and a few days later... All the mites are gone, including the ones you purchased and put in there. Turns out, whatever this mite is called, it's one sick puppy. Eats nothing but other mites, and even eats it's own kind when food runs scarce. They pick the place clean and then die off due to starvation.
I hear it is an excellent option for the more permanent vivarium or pseudo-ecosystem set up that really shouldn't be torn apart and sterilized, due to upsetting the bacterial balance.
 

blackcat38

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Neohippy said:
Not sure how much help it is since I can't remember the name, but there is a mite out there... Now I know this sounds odd at first. But, there is a mite out there you can purchase, you put a few in your terrarium, and a few days later... All the mites are gone, including the ones you purchased and put in there. Turns out, whatever this mite is called, it's one sick puppy. Eats nothing but other mites, and even eats it's own kind when food runs scarce. They pick the place clean and then die off due to starvation.
I hear it is an excellent option for the more permanent vivarium or pseudo-ecosystem set up that really shouldn't be torn apart and sterilized, due to upsetting the bacterial balance.

That sounds really interesting, have you tried this mite out for yourself?
 

Neohippy

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blackcat38 said:
That sounds really interesting, have you tried this mite out for yourself?


Negative, I have not. Maybe it's the northern climate or something, never had any pets with ticks, fleas, or mites... to date anyways.

But I sure would like to find out it's name and see the little psycho's in action.
 
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